The present invention relates to slowly releasing perfume compositions.
As slowly releasing perfume compositions mainly occupying the aromatic market at present there are so-called gel aromatics comprising water-soluble gels such as agar and carrageenan and perfumes dispersed therein using surfactants. Such gel aromatics have a superior volatilization mechanism such that they slowly release the perfumes dispersed therein along with gradual evaporation of water, and they can be colored easily into beautiful colors. Because of these superior characteristics, such gel aromatics are relatively popular. However, such gel aromatics have various drawbacks. For example, they always require a solid container as a protector for covering up the drawback of water-soluble gels that the gels easily get out of shape when a physical external force is exerted thereon; the amount of a perfume which can be dispersed in the gel is at most 10% or so of the weight of the gel, therefore in order to be fully effective during the period of use required of ordinary aromatics, namely, one to two months, it is necessary to use a relatively large amount, 70 to 150 grams, of a gel aromatic for each aromatic commodity; because the gel used is a water-soluble gel, it easily freezes at a temperature below 0.degree. C. and causes a phenomenon of water separation when thawing; and because the gel surface hardens in the form of a film along with evaporation of water, the effective volatilization percentage of the perfume dispersed in the gel is relatively small (35% or so of the dispersed perfume on an average).
There are also known various scented plastics comprising thermoplastic resins and small amounts of perfumes contained therein. Such scented plastics are obtained by adding a perfume beforehand to a starting resin before molding followed by melt-kneading under application of heat at a temperature of about 150.degree. C. to about 200.degree. C. and then molding the mixture by a conventional molding method. In such a method, however, the heating step causes volatilization of a low boiling portion of the perfume and a qualitative thermodeterioration, thus resulting in that the fragrance of the resultant scented molding is in many cases markedly different from that of the perfume used, and in order to prevent such an inconvenience it is inevitably required to restrict the perfume components use to high boiling components difficult to undergo such volatilization and thermal deterioration. Moreover, such scented plastics are not considered to satisfy both intensity and durability of fragrance.